Antipas Prayer Force Devotionals: 9/25/16

Thursday, September 29, 2016

"Just Men Made Perfect"

"King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew,...'Write another decree in the king's name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you'....Mordecai wrote in the name of King (President) Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king's signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king." (Esther 8:10, NIV)

The old Jew had triumphed. He was strong in the Lord His God. He stayed "in the fight." He was the driving force behind Esther's actions on behalf of their people.

Mordecai is an example to all of us. He was not passive in the face of impending disaster. He reminded Esther of her "calling." He would not bow to political pressure. He would not sell out principle to the "easy way out," which, in reality, would have ended in the destruction of the contemporary Jewry.

Okay, the "spiritual" among us will now say, "Well, it was all God." Yes, "all God"---------- in all of Mordecai. And when our Lord Jesus Christ has "all" of us, Jesus' power and purposes are fulfilled in us, His Church. Like it or not, religiously inclined, Jesus, "God with us," has for the most part in history worked through fallible mankind. Just consider Samson, David, the "weeping" Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, who said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief." Yet look at what they all accomplished.

And then there is you and I. What will we do with our frailties, our weakness, limitations? One of the biggest mistakes made by those who do not follow Jesus and those who do, "follow the Lamb wherever He goes," in the current American situation is that too many are evaluating events and people by those same frailties, weaknesses, and limitations. Much impartation of, "the Words of God," much prayer in the Holy Spirit will give us all the insight necessary to navigate through these turbulent waters, the waters in which we will find ourselves unto the close of the age.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that I will continue to walk in the example of, "just men made perfect."

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

"Adieu, All Indoor Scouts, Adieu, Yes, Adieu"

"Now there was in the city of Susa a Jew...." (Esther 2:5, NIV)

I'm finishing this quarter in Esther. "Now there was...a Jew...." The People of the Living Triune God have always been the nemesis of the humanists who have ruled kingdoms since Babel. It has not changed. Today in the United States of America the number of Followers of Jesus is decreasing, while the illegal and children of illegals number is increasing. I think it fair to say that we are becoming more and more an "illegal" nation, and apparently, as Jeremiah the Prophet said of the moral decline in his day, "the people love to have it so." The US Government is doing virtually nothing to curb this.

"Now there was in [the Roman Empire people called Christians....]" They caused the same headache to the Roman Government as Mordecai did to the Media-Persian Government, and as did Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the German Government, and as did.... This will go on until the Second Appearing of Jesus Christ. Now there are some in "the church" who do not like anyone of "their own" who stir up trouble. They are the "settlers" in a "pioneer" journey, or could we say, They are "pilgrims" who make no "progress"? Settling down in a culture is the best way to insure your defeat and its victory. "Adieu, all indoor scouts, Adieu, yes, Adieu, we can no longer wait for you, wait for you, we have no time for scouts who will not play the game of scouting all the way." So used to sing Troop 32, of the Somerset Boy Scout Troop, about the scouting life. And so should sing the Church of Jesus Christ in these days, "We can no longer wait for you," all those who just hope things will get better, stay at home on election day, and just quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, but do not do 2 Ch. 7:14.

Mordecai is exemplary of the life style of the Church, as was the Church of the First Three Centuries, as was Bonhoeffer in 1930s Germany. "Adieu, all worshipping, devotional reading, church attending members, conference-attending religious people, "Adieu, yes, Adieu; we can no longer wait for you...." The stakes are too high. Jesus, our Lord, challenged historic Judaism and the Roman Government, by claiming to be, "the Son of God," and, "The King of the Jews." It's time for the Global Church to "get on board." We are of those to whom the command of Jesus has come, "Go and preach the Kingdom of God," viz., "the Government of God," which preaching includes repentance, surrendering to Jesus, aka, "the New Birth," water and Holy Spirit Baptism, and, "make disciples teaching them to observe (obey) all things that I have commanded you." In other words, Take over. Maybe this is the "Four Spiritual Laws" revisited.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I don't want to be an "indoor scout." Amen.
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* Thank you to all who are praying for my Brother-in-law, Joe.
* Please also keep us in your prayers for the October 4-27 Mission.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

"Breakfast By The Sea"

"Jesus said to them, 'Come and eat breakfast.'" (John 21:12)

"Breakfast By The Sea." Again, this is the title of chapter 21 in my Bible.

Yes, it was another appearing of Jesus after the resurrection. Yes, theologians have made "deep" comments about the events revealed in the chapter. But, as with the Genesis passages about Isaac going out in the field at evening to, "meditate," this passage reveals to me the wonderful day to day fellowship we can have in Jesus, that is, if we get out of the tradition "Sunday School" religion.

Just as the American Presidential debates last evening revealed the same ol' same ol', so too much of what happens in Christendom, the meetings, the projects, the "goals and strategies," etc., is tiresome religious nonsense. There is something in humans which desires simplicity, not as simpletons, but as in the Garden relationship in our Heavenly Father. Jesus had prepared something for which the disciples had labored all night and, "they caught nothing." This is why the Republican Nominee for President has so much appeal to so many. American politics seem to involve "all night" labor and yet, "they caught nothing." Regardless of who he is, his "simple answers," his brash style, he has spoken answers to issues which the professionals have complicated so long, rejection of such is in the air. This is not, however, about political candidates.

This is about our Lord Jesus Christ, "The Word of God," Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwelling among us as, "Immanuel, God with us." Do we really need books on "How To Pray Effectively"? Do we really need books, on worship? The Bible reveals that worship was just as "great" in Isaac's encounter with Jesus in that evening-in-the-field meditation as in the largest, loudest, most "anointed" worship gathering. And that early morning breakfast with Jesus? What can one say? Today, I pray for you and me that we enjoy our, "Breakfast by the Sea," also "lunch" and "dinner" and "nightcap."

Father, in Jesus' Name, forgive me for times when I not only complicated life for me, but also for others. Amen.